From: <a href="mailto:shabanaameer2006@gmail.com" target="_blank">shabanaameer2006@gmail.com</a><br><div class="gmail_quote"><br>The Indian government is going to include the pentavalent vaccine in the Extended Immunisation Program of India. On a pilot basis it is going to be introduced in Tamilnadu state. We in MNI issued a press statement against the introduction <div>
ameerkhan</div>
<div><br>Makkal Nalavazhvu Iyakkam (MNI)</div>
<div>Community Health Cell Extension unit - SOCHARA</div>Chennai - Tamilnadu
<div> </div>
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<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align:justify;text-justify:inter-ideograph">STATEMENT
ON THE INTRODUCTION OF PENTAVALENT VACCINE IN Universal Immunisation Program
(UIP)</p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align:justify;text-justify:inter-ideograph"> </p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align:justify;text-justify:inter-ideograph;text-autospace:ideograph-numeric"><b><span>MAKKAL NALAVAZHVU IYAKKAM
(Tamilnadu chapter of Jan Swasthya Abhiyan)</span></b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align:justify;text-justify:inter-ideograph;text-autospace:ideograph-numeric"><b><span> </span></b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align:justify;text-justify:inter-ideograph;text-autospace:ideograph-numeric"><b><span>PRESS RELEASE<span> </span></span></b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align:justify;text-justify:inter-ideograph"> </p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align:justify;text-justify:inter-ideograph">While
we welcome the use of the latest science and technology in the field of public
health for the greater common good, and we welcome the Tamilnadu government’s
commitment to the health of the people of Tamilnadu, we would like to raise
concerns about the <b>introduction of the
pentavalent Vaccine in the Universal Immunisation Program (UIP) in Tamilnadu on
a pilot basis </b>and the process to introduce it. <b>After considering many factors related to Pentavalent vaccine we urge
the central government to reconsider the decision to introduce the pentavalent
Vaccine from UIP and also urge the Tamilnadu government to put on hold the
introduction.<span> </span></b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align:justify;text-justify:inter-ideograph"> </p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align:justify;text-justify:inter-ideograph">While
acknowledging the important role of the UIP vaccines in the control of vaccine
preventable diseases, Makkal Nalavazhvu Iyakkam (MNI) believes that mere
technological solutions without the corresponding / supporting
socio-economic-political interventions cannot lead to health for ALL. Medical
technology is only one in whole range of interventions at various levels and
dimensions that are required for the achievement of Health for ALL.<span> </span>MNI further believes that medical technology
should be under “social control”. Its introduction, provisioning, monitoring
and evaluation needs to be done with the people's welfare as the top most
priority and not corporate or political pressure. </p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align:justify;text-justify:inter-ideograph"> </p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align:justify;text-justify:inter-ideograph">The
health sector today is the field of struggle, with the private sector trying to
capture as much of it as possible for profit. In this, the field of vaccines
has seen very intense battles with the powerful multinational pharmaceutical
industries trying to make inroads into the Indian market. </p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align:justify;text-justify:inter-ideograph"> </p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left:.5in;text-align:justify;text-justify:inter-ideograph"><span style="font-family:Symbol"><span>·<span style="font:7.0pt "Times New Roman"">
</span></span></span>In Pentavalent case also, we observe that strong
hands of global corporations and agencies such as Global Alliance for Vaccine
Initiative (GAVI) behind this introduction of pentavalent vaccines into the
Universal Immunization program of India in order to gain huge profit
for their vaccine production companies.<span>
</span>The international vaccine production companies are deliberately looking
for markets to sell many vaccines and India’s UIP is the huge potential
market and through all measures they convinced the union government. Hence, we,
demand the governments not to succumb into international agencies pressure and
give importance to local realities.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align:justify;text-justify:inter-ideograph"> </p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left:.5in;text-align:justify;text-justify:inter-ideograph"><span style="font-family:Symbol"><span>·<span style="font:7.0pt "Times New Roman"">
</span></span></span>There are counter arguments from people’s groups
and doctor’s fraternity on the efficacy, safety and need of the Hib vaccine in India we demand
the government to put on hold of introducing Pentavalent till the efficiency
and safety of the vaccine is proved beyond doubt. Here we would like to mention
the rollback of pentavalent vaccine in Srilanka,
Pakistan and Bhutan due to
suspicion of deaths of children immediately after administering the pentavalent
vaccine to them and<span> </span>re-introduction in
Srilanka is also riddled with controversy. </p>
<p style="text-align:justify;text-justify:inter-ideograph"> </p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left:.5in;text-align:justify;text-justify:inter-ideograph"><span style="font-family:Symbol"><span>·<span style="font:7.0pt "Times New Roman"">
</span></span></span><span> </span>After
five years of subsidy period by GAVI, Government of India has to pay the full
price of vaccine which is around Rs.525 per vaccine per child, that means the
government have to deploy huge funds to buy the vaccines alone effective; hence
the move will lead to diversion of large amount of people’s money to private
vaccine manufacturers in the name of purchasing pentavalent vaccine. Due to
this large diversion of funds of health budget the other basic and emergency
health care services may suffer from lack of funds which will affect the
countries health care facilities in big way. We demand that the Tamilnadu and
central governments – make public and transparent its discussions around the
decision making process for the introduction of this vaccine at this juncture. </p>
<p style="text-align:justify;text-justify:inter-ideograph"> </p>
<p style="margin-left:.75in;text-align:justify;text-justify:inter-ideograph"><span style="font-family:Symbol"><span>·<span style="font:7.0pt "Times New Roman"">
</span></span></span>After long struggle by People’s movements and
progressive scientists, public vaccine production units (BCG lab Guindy,
Pasteur Institute Connor and Central Research Labroaroty in Kasoli were
reopened last year and these units are still struggling to supply the vaccines
to government thanks to a lack of support for revamping and upgrading the
facilities. These units are not equipped to produce pentavalent vaccines, so
Government has to procure vaccine from private companies and we fear
introducing pentavalent at this juncture will permanently affect<span> </span>these public sector companies, once the pride
of India.
</p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left:.5in;text-align:justify;text-justify:inter-ideograph"> </p>
<p style="text-align:justify;text-justify:inter-ideograph"><span style="font-family:Symbol"><span>·<span style="font:7.0pt "Times New Roman"">
</span></span></span>GAVI had already made “Advance Market Commitment
(AMC)” to multinational vaccine companies, in such situation Government of
India will also be left with no option but that of procuring only from these
multinational companies and not from the Indian companies either public sector
or private sector even if available for a lower cost<span> </span>this will obviously have direct impact on our
independence leaving us completely dependent on the whims of the private sector.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left:.5in;text-align:justify;text-justify:inter-ideograph"> </p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left:.5in;text-align:justify;text-justify:inter-ideograph"><span style="font-family:Symbol"><span>·<span style="font:7.0pt "Times New Roman"">
</span></span></span>In the specific context of Tamilnadu where the
village level immunization has just re-started, the government should take
necessary steps to stabilize the routine immunization in villages in priority
basis before considering the introduction of any new vaccines. </p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left:.5in;text-align:justify;text-justify:inter-ideograph"> </p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left:.5in;text-align:justify;text-justify:inter-ideograph"><span style="font-family:Symbol"><span>·<span style="font:7.0pt "Times New Roman"">
</span></span></span>We also would like to raise concern over the
role of the private sector in irrational demand </p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left:.25in;text-align:justify;text-justify:inter-ideograph"><span> </span>creation. </p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left:.25in;text-align:justify;text-justify:inter-ideograph"><span> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left:.5in;text-align:justify;text-justify:inter-ideograph"><span style="font-family:Symbol"><span>·<span style="font:7.0pt "Times New Roman"">
</span></span></span>To bring more transparency and accountability in
the function of health system, the government should take necessary steps to reassure
the public with full and accurate information regarding existing vaccination
programs and transparent reporting on a monthly basis should be available in
the public domain.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left:.5in;text-align:justify;text-justify:inter-ideograph"> </p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left:.5in;text-align:justify;text-justify:inter-ideograph"><span style="font-family:Symbol"><span>·<span style="font:7.0pt "Times New Roman"">
</span></span></span>All Village Health and Sanitation Committees
(VHWSC) and Accredited Social Health Activists (ASHA) should be taken into
confidence and trained to play a monitoring role in vaccination at the village
level. </p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left:.5in;text-align:justify;text-justify:inter-ideograph"> </p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left:.5in;text-align:justify;text-justify:inter-ideograph"><span style="font-family:Symbol"><span>·<span style="font:7.0pt "Times New Roman"">
</span></span></span>Set up a committee with people's representatives
and civil society groups to monitor the roll out process of any new vaccines
and issues arising out of the same on a regular basis and it proceedings and
decisions be made public. </p>
<p style="text-align:justify;text-justify:inter-ideograph"> </p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align:justify;text-justify:inter-ideograph"> </p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align:justify;text-justify:inter-ideograph">We
request the governments to not to base such decisions on the basis of technical
expert committees’ findings and recommendations alone as such committee’s
recommendations are based purely on a narrow understanding of efficacy and
cost-effectiveness and do not include a large number dimensions including the
systemic effects, social realities on access to technologies and the benefit of
science, corruption, and the control of this technology for private profit and
the long term effects of that on the sovereignty of the national and state
health systems. We would like to bring to your notice that such expert
committees were involve in two cases of policy reversal in the recent past. We
refer to the cases of Public sector vaccine production units closure and
institutional based vaccination policy in Tamilnadu in the past. Both these
recommendations were subsequently struck down and reversed after public
pressure and the larger impact on health systems were realised.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align:justify;text-justify:inter-ideograph"> </p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align:justify;text-justify:inter-ideograph">Date:
15<sup>th</sup> December 2011</p>
<p style="text-align:justify;text-justify:inter-ideograph"> </p>
<p style="margin-left:0in;text-align:justify;text-justify:inter-ideograph">Released by:</p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align:justify;text-justify:inter-ideograph"><b>Makkal Nalavazhvu Iyakkam</b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align:justify;text-justify:inter-ideograph;text-autospace:ideograph-numeric">Secretariat
</p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align:justify;text-justify:inter-ideograph;text-autospace:ideograph-numeric"><b><span>No.31,
Prakasam Street
</span></b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align:justify;text-justify:inter-ideograph;text-autospace:ideograph-numeric"><b><span>T.Nagar
, Chennai -17</span></b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align:justify;text-justify:inter-ideograph;text-autospace:ideograph-numeric"><b><span>044-45502438
/ 9443282718</span></b></p>
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